Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Technical Field
This invention relates in general to telecommunications and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing entertainment in connection with voice messaging.
2. Description of the Related Art
The advent of voice mail has changed the way people communicate. On one hand, voice mail has allowed people to leave messages without third party intervention (such as a secretary). On the other hand, voice messaging tends to create a higher percentage of xe2x80x9ctelephone tagxe2x80x9d, where individuals leave messages for one another, but never actually connect.
Over time, telephone tag can become very frustrating. Eventually, one of the participants is likely to stop leaving messages. In particular, the consequences can be serious in a commercial setting, where a customer stops communicating with a company because of the aggravation of leaving messages instead of actually making contact with an individual.
It is unlikely that telephone tag can be avoided entirely. While mobile telecommunication devices have made connections available under more circumstances, they have not appreciably reduced the incidence of telephone tag; on the contrary, the increased availability of communications may well have similarly increased the number of incidences of telephone tag.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a method an apparatus for making telephone tag more enjoyable.
In the present invention, the frustration of telephone tag is alleviated by providing a voice mail system where, after receiving a call from a calling party to a called party, the calling party is offered the opportunity to participate in a game, if the called party is not available. If the calling party accepts, the game is played. The calling party is forwarded to the called party""s voice mail either before or after the game is played.
The present invention provides significant advantages over the prior art. The frustration of telephone tag is alleviated by the opportunity to play a game, such as the purchase of a lottery ticket, or winning a discount coupon or other promotional item through a game of chance, or a game to gain access to a particular advertising media stream.